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Keeping up with the Solas

I don’t really mess with the Kardashians. I get that they’re all pretty, famous and rich, but I’m not entirely sure what talent it is that they have, or what profound things it is that they say, that keeps so many people coming back for more.

Have you guys heard of the Solas though? If you’re a Pacific Islander, I think it would be pretty hard for you not to have. ‘Keeping Up With the Sola’s’ is a facebook fanpage that was started up by sisters Faith-Lina and Serenity Sola in Auckland, New Zealand. Since they started the page in late March of this year they’ve generated a lot of traffic (over 60K likes), just by making their own hilarious memes and videos.

I caught up with the girls on Skype just for a chat really. In between my flu cough, them laughing at their parents, saying hi to their mum and just laughing in general we discussed what its been like with the page, school uni and everything else.

No need for explanation – I’m sure we’ve all been here

Cousin E: Okay guys, do you mind just both saying your names and ages, to start off with please?

Cousin E: That’s so fast… okay so did you start doing it for your cousins birthday?

Faith-Lina: Nah it was just random

Serenity: Yeah

Faith-Lina: Like we were just sitting outside church and we were bored so I was like ‘why don’t you just make a page’ and then –

Serenity: (interrupts) I was on facebook at the time, I made the page; so you know if it wasn’t for me…

Faith-Lina: But I had the idea so, if it wasn’t for my idea you know…

Serenity: But I made it, so without me making it you know…

Cousin E: (laughs) Do you consider the page a hobby? Or is it something that you want to carry on into other stuff?

Faith-Lina: It’s a hobby

Serenity: Yeah it’s a hobby

Faith-Lina: It’s just something we do on the side really –

Serenity: We don’t have big plans for it…

Faith-Lina: If things pop up and we get the opportunity to do stuff then we just do it but we don’t really have elaborate plans for the page.

Cousin E: Do you get many people of other ethnicities, commenting on your page?

Serenity: Yes, we have quite a few Palagis – we actually get excited when Palagi’s comment on our stuff because usually we don’t get that kind of response from them, it’s usually just from Islanders.

Faith-Lina: When you run a [fan]page, facebook gives you statistics of where your ‘likers’ come from, and there are heaps from you know, Japan, Egypt.. It’s crazy… Ethiopia…

Cousin E: Wow!

Faith-Lina: Yeah like countries we never knew existed kind of thing…

Serenity: Yeah and we’re like WHOA (laughs)

Cousin E: That’s amazing

Faith-Lina: Yeah it’s pretty cool, it’s pretty buzzy…

Cousin E: Okay, so having said that what’s the reception been like on the page for you guys from the Pacific community?

Faith-Lina: Yeah – (stops because Serenity has a finger up her nose) CAN YOU NOT – we get more love than hate but there’s always the one person that thinks that we’re just embarrassing Islanders.

Serenity: Embarrassing ourselves…

Faith-Lina: That we’re embarrassing ourselves, were giving our family a bad name…

Serenity: Yeah, there’s always one in a million

Cousin E: What do you think has made your page so successful?

Faith-Lina: I think it’s just because we post relatable stuff. We’ll post something up and someone will be like ohmigosh that’s me! Like you know?

Cousin E: Do you guys have any hopes or wishes for Pacific youth today?

Faith-Lina: I think for me, the main thing would be for our Polynesian people to get educated. I think it was Malcolm X, who said ‘if you think education is expensive, try ignorance’ and I think that’s something that even the parents take for granted in just investing in a good education for their kids, because it just unlocks so many other possibilities for our young people and it’s one thing I think that I would advocate for our youth. Get a good education. Do the hard work now to reap the benefits later

Cousin E: Awesome. so having said that what school do you go to or where do you work?

Serenity: I go to Auckland Girls Grammar

Faith-Lina: And I go to Auckland Uni

Cousin E: Oh cool! What are you doing at AU Lina?

(silence then laughter, while I sit looking at my laptop screen in confusion)

Serenity: Were always connected because we have 3G (both hold up phones)

Faith-Lina: Yeah we have data so it’s like all the time

Cousin E: Cool. Okay so funniest meme you’ve ever seen?

Serenity: Ever seen? Mmmmm, (to Faith-Lina) Jamies World?

Faith-Lina: (to Serenity) Mmm, oh I dunno! Theres so many! I see funny ones but they just don’t stay in

Cousin E: Yeah that’s true, maybe funniest video then?

Faith-Lina: All those vines…

Serenity: Yeah those vines!!

Faith-Lina: I like that vine where that kids in the supermarket and the, and he asks – oh hes like an adult – but he asks his dad if he can have a…

Cousin E: Oh I didn’t watch that I saw it today and I didn’t watch it!

Faith-Lina: Ooooh!! Its like my favourite!

Cousin E: I’m gonna have to check that one out now… how bout your own memes? Do you have a favourite of your own at all?

Faith-Lina: My favourite is the fridge one

Cousin E: What was the fridge one?

Serenity: It’s like right at the beginning

Cousin E: My sister will know that one

Faith-Lina: That’s pretty much the one that launched our page

Cousin E: Good times –

Serenity: That was my idea too

Faith-Lina: Ew, that was my idea

Cousin E: (laughing) Okay cool. Why Jacob Black?

Serenity: Oh! That’s me

Cousin E: Yes that is definitely you

Serenity: That is my ultimate celebrity crush since I was like younger, back when I had bebo.

Cousin E: When he was Shark Boy?

Serenity: Yes!

Faith-Lina: Shark Boy and Lava Girl!

Serenity: Yes! Even my bebo names and everything my edits had Mrs –

Faith-Lina: Mrs Jacob Black (and starts cracking up laughing)

Serenity: Taylor Lautner that was me, that was me

Faith-Lina: Youre such a moeps

(I start laughing)

Serenity: Let me dream! I just, sighs, yeah

Cousin E: He was really cute as a little kid

Faith-Lina: He was.

Cousin E: I mean he’s a good looking, old – you know grown up person as well, oh sorry – okay

Faith-Lina: (laughs) Whoa

Cousin E: Yeah sorry haha… Okay so there are two conversations that have come up recently with our blog, me&mycousin. One is: why do Islanders love Elvis so much? The second one is: why do Islanders love to call each other Beyonce?

(both laugh)

If you don’t think that fobs love Elvis or fobs call each other Beyonce than you can just say that, but otherwise why do you guys think those two things happen?

Serenity: I’ve never heard the Elvis one

Cousin E: Okay

Faith-Lina: Islanders love Elvis because he’s timeless

Cousin E: Okay (Serenity laughs) – what are you laughing at?

Serenity: I think I wasn’t even born when he died

Cousin E: None of us were born when he died

(all of us crack up laughing)

Faith-Lina: See what I have to live with!

Serenity: I mean, I wasn’t in that time when he was still you know…

Cousin E: No definitely, I get it.

Faith-Lina: Islanders love Elvis because his music is amaze

Cousin E: Do you like his music?

Faith-Lina: Everyone loves good music

Serenity: My Dad loves Elvis! Our Dad loves Elvis!

Cousin E: Yeah! Why do you think your Dad loves Elvis?

Serenity: Cos he’s old?

Cousin E: Haha okay

Serenity: Nah, it’s just his kind of music I guess

Cousin E: Cool. So why do you guys think that Islanders like to call each other Beyonce?

Faith-Lina: Cos she’s amazing!!

Serenity: She’s beautiful!!

Faith-Lina: Who would not wanna be called Beyonce

Serenity: Not me!!

(I laugh)

Faith-Lina: That did not make sense

(I continue to laugh and am suddenly choking)

Serenity: I’m sorry

Faith-Lina: You’re being a total contradiction right now

Serenity: But she, I just love – she’s just the best, she is the bomb dot com

Faith-Lina: She’s just Beyonce!!!

Cousin E: (have managed to get my breath back) She definitely is, I mean well the other thing that sort of baffles me is when [faafafine] like to call each other Beyonce. Like they’re walking around and you know how they love walking like this (demonstrates) and stuff, their like…

Faith-Lina: There is one called Tayonce – whats his name?

Serenity: Who?

Faith-Lina: Tayonce? Or something Sayonce or something?

Cousin E: Who’s Tayonce?

Faith-Lina: Hes like a, its like a fafa I forgot his name. I know that he has like a nickname along the lines of that

Cousin E: I get it though, she’s beautiful and everybody wants to look like her

Serenity: Mmm that’s Beyonce

Cousin E: Okay umm, is your Mum as funny as your Dad?

Both: Nah, no

(both laugh)

Faith-Lina: We can say that straight away

Cousin E: Okay (The girls continue laughing). Okay, do you guys have any parting words

Faith-Lina: Yeah I think just be confident in who you are and know that there’s no one else like you. And I think that’s why our page does well as well is because we’re confident in who we are and we’re not the skinniest, were not the prettiest but we just know who we are and I think that’s the trick for other people

Serenity: Im pretty (and laughs)

And on that note we ended and I moved on to trying to film them doing some shout outs which just did not work. Make sure you get to the Keeping up with the Solas facebook page to see what the girls have been up to. Thank you to Faith-Lina and Serenity for talking to me&mycousin!